Cowboys' Trade A Shrewd Deal

WARNER HESSLER

October 26, 1989|By WARNER HESSLER Columnist

Hey, wait a minute, maybe rookie owner Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys isn't the wealthy rube he appears to be. Maybe he really did get the best of the trade with Mike Lynn, the Minnesota general manager, when he sent Herschel Walker to the Vikings for four players and a flock of conditional draft picks.

If he doesn't keep the four players after the season and receives the draft picks, he could have as many as 18 selections in the first three rounds of the next three college drafts. That includes his own picks plus the 1990 third-rounder he got from Kansas City for veteran quarterback Steve Pelluer. Two weeks after Jones solidified the Vikings' claim as a strong Super Bowl contender by trading Walker, a lot of people who were critical of the Dallas owner are beginning to see things his way.

If the Cowboys do their homework, nearly half of Dallas' roster in 1993 will be made up of blue-chippers from the Walker trade. So what if Walker leads his new team to a couple titles. Dallas could become the dominant team of the 1990s.

* PAYROLL PROBLEM

As is the case of most of the things Jones does, there's a downside to the Cowboys having a bevy of upper-round draft picks. If the Cowboys make 18 selections in the first three rounds of the next three drafts, how is Jones going to meet his payroll?

Acording to figures released by the NFL Players' Association after the 1988 season, Dallas' payroll is approximately $15 million, about average for the league. Based on salaries and bonuses paid to players selected in the first three rounds in 1989, those 18 players would cost the Cowboys about $31 million.

Spanning three years and adding in only the salaries of the other 29 players on the active roster, the Cowboys' payroll would be at least $28 million. Taking into account the NFLPA's average costs for insurance and performance bonuses, the Cowboys' total player costs would be around $27 million.

The same NFLPA statistics indicate the Cowboys would have a total operation expense of approximately $39 million and total revenues of approximately $34 million.

And that's in 1989 dollars. If Jones utilizes all of these high draft picks he's been collecting, he's looking at a deficit of about $5 million by 1993, give or take a couple million.

* RUN INEFFECTIVE

Coach Buddy Ryan has been forcing a running game on his Philadelphia Eagles the last two weeks in an effort to take some of the pressure off do-everything quarterback Randall Cunningham. Ryan, who calls plays from the sidelines, ordered 32 runs and 20 passes in last Sunday's 10-7 victory over the Los Angeles Raiders, and the Eagles had their lowest offensive production of the season. Philadelphia rushed for 132 yards, but the stifled Cunningham, who is also the team's leading rusher, completed just eight passes for 64 yards.

The Detroit Lions' new Silver Stretch attack, an offense that features four wide receivers, one running back and no tight end, is being called the Silver Stench in Detroit. Through 11 games, four in the preseason, the Lions have passed for two touchdowns and have been intercepted 32 times. In seven regular season games, the Lions have one touchdown pass with 15 interceptions and 33 sacks. The lone regular-season touchdown pass, by reserve Bob Gagliano, was an accident. Richard Johnson ran the wrong pattern and caught a pass thrown behind intended receiver Robert Clark. Detroit would have a problem going to a more conventional offense as there are no tight ends on the roster.

* REKINDLING DRIVE

New York Jets Coach Joe Walton said he was trying to light a fire under his team two weeks ago when he benched veteran quarterback Ken O'Brien and started untested Kyle Mackey. O'Brien replaced Mackey in the second half and started last Sunday's 34-3 loss in Buffalo. Sources in New York said Walton is trying to hide another O'Brien shoulder injury. Reportedly, O'Brien played last year with an undisclosed shoulder injury that limited his ability to throw long.